Yesterday Google Australia hosted around 150 members of young media professionals networking community NGEN for a panel discussion called “Industry in 2017” with an illustrious group of Australian media industry executives and CEOs.Sharing their thoughts on how the industry will evolve over the next 5 years were heavyweights like Sophie Madden, Marketing Services Head, Kraft Foods; Mark Buckman, Chief Marketing Officer, Telstra; Kerry Field, General Manager, Mindshare; Mat Baxter, Chief Executive Officer, UM; Matt James, Managing Director, mi9; James Warburton, Chief Executive, Ten Network as well as Nick Leeder, Managing Director, Google Australia & New Zealand. Henry Tajer, President of the MFA and Executive Chairman of MediaBrands Australia, hosted the session.The panel agreed that big data, social media, video and liquid media planning are abuzz for good reason. For all panelists the future of the media industry will be centred around data and measurement. Advertisers demand real return on investment (ROI) and agencies who can service this more than ever before. Hence media plans need to be “liquid” to react to changing audiences, opportunities and media. The panelists were split on the need to return to a full service agency model and on the question of Price vs Value.

James Warburton said that people will consume more content than ever before with the major difference being that it will just be across many more screen sizes--whether it is TV, catchup TV, smartphones, tablets or desktop doesn’t really matter. This was reiterated by Sophie Madden from Kraft Foods, who when asked about the future of TV, said “I have great optimism for the future of video.”Telstra’s Mark Buckman made the point that digital cannot be a separate team, “We’ve all got to be digital people”. On social media, he remarked that it isn’t just an advertising channel but about “having deeper and longer conversations with our customers.”But nothing grabbed the audience’s attention more than the panel’s thoughts on their own careers and what made them successful. Curiosity was a trait echoed by many of the panelists as critical to success but they also urged the crowd to be adaptable and to seize every opportunity to grow and to get out of their ‘comfort zone.’While “Chief MO” - that’s what his team at Telstra calls him - Buckman and Ten’s Warburton said old-fashioned hard work and true passion for the industry are key for a career, Google’s Nick Leeder reminded the audience that only one thing can be guaranteed: “This industry will keep changing constantly and it’s only becoming faster. So if you want to stay in this industry, make sure you’re always open to the next big thing.”Posted by Noelle Kim, Senior Industry Analyst CPG and NGEN member, Google Australia